Thinking of Saturday’s post, when it comes to writing implements, one shouldn’t be limited to pens of course, but for writers (vs. illustrators) I can’t recall scribes being as agog about pencils these days (I may be wrong, send links!).
However, when it comes to markers, Sharpies have not only become ubiquitous when someone reaches for “a marker,” but they come in more colors than Oreos have flavors, i.e., slightly less than the number of stars in the sky.
I first used Sharpies when digging in George Washington’s trash, but as any good ubiquitous tool, Sharpies are useful for far more than archaeology-related tasks… and surely one of those is author signatures.
For that reason, my fancy has been appropriately tickled by author John Green‘s habit of signing an inordinately large number of tip-in sheets for his books. He does so with Sharpies and, not only that, has done so with a progression of colors, so buyers of his books might suss out when in the signing cycle he signed said signed copy. That’s a level of manic detail that is simply delightful.
What is less delightful is that, after doing so many signings, this may be the last book he goes through this ritual on, the ritual and the impact being described below.
I should mention that some of my family members are inordinately good at obtaining signatures for books (and CDs back when those were a thing)… and I have been the beneficiary of that habit. And there’s something quietly moving, as Green notes above, about how an author signature connects reader and writer in some small way. I’m sad to see this particular instance end. But hey, with over half a million signed copies, you could pick up one.
Happy Monday the Thirteenth!